(Ad 1)
The Driffield navigation is to be found in the East riding
of Yorkshire, passing through the heart of the Holderness plain to the
Market town of Driffield, which is described as the “Capital of the Wolds”.
The river Hull has long been established as a means of
transport, going back into the mists of time, so with development of canals
it was not long before local communities started to consider exploiting it
further by building canals to it, Great Driffield
in particular was a growing town in
need of a better transport system.
An act of Parliament in 1767 provided for amproving the
navigation of the Hull and extending the navigation to Great Driffield, the
navigation becoming an amenity of the townwith commissioners duly appointed
to oversee its management: Initially borrowing money for the construction
and later charging Tolls both to repay the loan and service the canal.
The original canal contained 4 locks capable of carrying
62’ x
24’ 6” craft known as “Driffield Keels”
capable of carrying 100 tons but restricted to 70ton in the canal due to
draft restrictions. The initial uptake of shipping was not up to
expectaions, partly due to silting in the canal and partly due to
restictions imposed by the height of the Hull bridge near Ticton, though
these problems had been overcome by 1805, with the locks modified and the
Hull bridge rebuilt to accommodate more traffic and as
a result at steady and
successful trade was established, which lasted past the establishment of
local railways until about 1870 when traffic started to diminish, c until
1931 when profits were down to £11 / yr.
Consequently with no funds for maintenance the navigation
fell into decline, the last commercial craft being in 1951.
New hope was created in 1968 with the establishment of the
Driffield Navigation Amenities
Association which was founded to restore the canal, the Trustees of the
newly formed Driffield Navigation
Trust formed at the same time
and recognised by the charities commission became
the new commissioners of the
Navigation .... the former ones having past on to better things.
The two organisations worked together with a small army of
enthusiastic volunteers who first help keep the existing structures working
and then set about restoring and replacing locks and other structures as
necessary.
Obstacles to the restoration were fixed bridges placed
across the navigation during its period of redundancy, which are gradually
being replaced with movable bridges as legislation and funding allow.
Restoration is now well under way.